Set Impossible Goals to Overcome Self-Doubt
If you feel insecure at work, it will be easier for you to set achievable goals so that you will always achieve something. However, while it may sound counterintuitive, at Fast Company, marketing strategist Ted Karczewski suggests that one way to deal with self-doubt is to set yourself impossible goals.
When you do well enough at work, you get results, but you aren’t really doing anything out of the ordinary to make you feel like you’re actually achieving something. This is good in the short term, but it works for you over time. Karchevsky suggests overcoming this and pushing yourself:
I did not set low benchmarks because I was afraid that I would not reach them; I set the bar low because I wanted to look good every time I exceeded my expectations. I love praise, and by default I look for easy ways to get approval from my team members. Looking back on this, I understand that the biggest mistake in setting low goals is not that I painted a picture that is different from those around me, but that I limited my success by not forcing myself to strive to achieve what may seem impossible … Learn to set uncomfortable goals for yourself, despite self-doubt.
This is certainly a daunting task, but it makes sense: if you can truly achieve these goals, you will get rid of this self-doubt for a while. It can always backfire, but in the end it will be worth it.
How To Overcome The Insecurity Holding You Back | Fast Company